World News - Official: First wave of troops to Iraq by Jan. 31 Kennedy says Hill must act on surge; move may spark constitutional debate

A first wave of additional U.S. troops will go into Iraq before the end of the month under President Bush’s new plan, a senior defense official said Tuesday. Up to 20,000 troops will be put on alert and be prepared to deploy under the president’s plan, but the increase in forces on the ground will be gradual, said the official, who requested anonymity because the plans have not yet been announced. Moving first would be the 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, which is in Kuwait and poised to deploy quickly into Iraq. With the new Democratic-led Congress flexing its muscles in opposition to the unpopular Iraq war, a leading Democratic senator proposed to block Bush from sending more troops to Iraq unless Congress specifically approves. Sen. Edward Kennedy said Tuesday that Congress had the authority to block the move through its power to approve spending.... http://www.msnbc.msn.com

Russia has said the decision to stop pumping oil through a key pipeline to Europe was forced upon it by events outside of its control. The comments came as officials from Belarus and Russia began talks aimed at resolving an escalating energy dispute. Russia has been condemned by the European Union for cutting off its oil supplies without consultation. German chancellor Angela Merkel dubbed the move "unacceptable" and one that "destroyed trust" in Russia. Ms Merkel also said the current conflict illustrated that Europe's energy sources should be more diverse. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso had said earlier that energy companies should not be allowed to cut off oil supplies unannounced. However, Russian Energy Minister Viktor Kristenko the row with Belarus which led to the pipeline closure constituted a "force majeure" - which means that the events are beyond the country's control and it is free of its obligations....http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6243573.stm

Bush yesterday began promoting his plan to send more troops to Iraq, bringing more than 30 Republican senators to the White House as part of a major campaign to rally the American people behind another effort to stabilize the country. Senators who met with Bush said the president made it clear that he is planning to add as many as 20,000 U.S. troops to help quell violence in Baghdad. They also said the president is arguing that his new plan has a better chance for success than past plans because of a greater willingness of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to commit Iraqi forces against all perpetrators of violence, including Shiite militias. "It was clear to me that a decision has been made for a surge" of at least 20,000 additional troops, Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) said in a conference call with reporters. Smith said Bush believes "that the political processes have been overtaken by sectarian violence and that sectarian violence must be quelled so political processes can...http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010800237.html

President Hugo Chavez has pledged to nationalise key Venezuelan companies, as part of plans to transform the country into a full socialist state. Mr Chavez said he wanted to see major Venezuelan power and telecoms companies come under state control. He also called for an end to foreign ownership of lucrative crude oil refineries in the Orinoco region. Mr Chavez's comments came in an address to the nation following the swearing in of his new cabinet. "All of that which was privatised, let it be nationalised," he said during the speech. "The nation should recover its ownership of strategic sectors." Mr Chavez also called on the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Jose Miguel Insulza, to resign after he condemned the Venezuelan government's decision not to renew a private TV station's licence. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6243299.stm

A leading Democratic senator proposed legislation on Tuesday to block U.S. President George W. Bush from sending more troops to Iraq unless Congress specifically approves.With the new Democratic-led Congress flexing its muscles against the unpopular Iraq war and Bush expected to announce an increase of up to 20,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts said Congress had the authority to block the move."What we are saying is that before the president sends additional American troops into this civil war, that the president has to come back to the Congress and get authority for that deployment," the Massachusetts Democrat said on NBC's "Today" show."We have that authority, we have not used it in the Iraq war but we have used it at other times," he said.The move seemed destined to touch off constitutional debate about the role of Congress and whether it can use its authority to stop specific orders by the President ...http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N09493193.htm

Astronomers have found the first example of a triple quasar, the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle has heard. Quasars are powerful sources of energy, thought to be powered by supermassive black holes. At first, researchers thought the triplet was just an illusion, caused by the splitting of light beams. But a team using Hawaii's WM Keck Observatory has found the system really involves three black holes. Each quasar produces massive amounts of electromagnetic energy, including visible light and radio waves. They are powered by gas falling into a black hole at the centre of a galaxy. This happens most efficiently when galaxies collide and merge. A single quasar could be a thousand times brighter than an entire galaxy of a hundred billion stars. Lensing effect Professor George Djorgovski, from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, and colleagues studied a system called LBQS 1429-008. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6243361.stm